Day 16.046: Surprise hawk

When we see significantly fewer birds at our feeders, we generally converge on one of two reasons - firstly that the feeders need cleaning or the contents have gone rancid or are otherwise unappealing, or secondly that there is a predator somewhere that we can't see, but the birds are aware of. Since our feeders are fairly well protected from ground-based predators, the likely culprit is a raptor.

So it was, that during a third consecutive disappointing counting day (after two days last weekend), Exile #2's attention was drawn to two crows making a fuss about something which turned out to be this:

We're almost certain that this is a red-shouldered hawk. A rather rare raptor for this area and especially so in winter. Several sources suggest they shouldn’t be here at all but Vickery says they are uncommon but regular in winter in our comer of Maine.